30 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | Q&A
Qsaltlake.com |
ISSUE 321 |
MARCH, 2021
Vintage with a (Queer) Twist A new campaign redefines ’70s beauty standards with LGBTQ themes BY EVE KUCHARSKI
Without
dispute, the ’70s were an iconic fashion decade. Tie-dye, floral, bell-bottoms, mini (and maxi) dresses. It’s not hard to pick out a seminal trend whose influence can be seen even in modern-day wear. But despite its fun fashion, the decade idealized white standards of beauty, largely leaving out anyone who didn’t meet the mold of skinny, cisgender female models. Now, with “Prim-n-Poppin,” which officially launches today, New York-based photographer Julia Comita and makeup artist Brenna Drury have imagined a world that better reflects the diverse world we live in. The online project is a series of reimagined vintage magazine ads that includes models of various races from the body modification, vitiligo and body positivity communities. But it’s not only representative of physical diversity. “Prim-n-Poppin” showcases five reimagined vintage beauty ads that also highlight models with ranging sexual orientations and gender identities. It includes detailed interviews with each model and allows viewers to access a detailed resource list of allied companies and organizations that value beauty just as much as the emotional health and well-being of the people who are interested in fashion today, unlike the antiquated original source material.
Recently, Comita and Drury shared why inclusivity is as important as ever in fashion today, what it was like breaking modern makeup rules to create the project, and why seeing diverse representation in these vintage ads brought out an emotional response in both the project creators and the participating models. Where did the name for “Primn-Poppin” come from? JULIA COMITA: We like that name because “prim” is sort of alluding to the vintage portion of it. You know, more old-school and more proper, if you will. And “poppin’” is more alluding to present-day. It is a combination of the two. And it’s just a fun title. What was the process of coming up with the idea? BRENNA DRURY: We met through Instagram. I messaged her to collaborate. That was in early summer 2019 and I made a few mood boards, three of which were more along the beauty lines of pops of color and fresh skin. And then I threw in the vintage advertisements, which were just colorful fun. We started with that and agreed that we would like to do something a little bit different. And then, while looking through the vintage advertisements, we were picking up on the undertones like how non-inclusive they were, and just the more conversations we had, we were able to narrow it down to exactly what we wanted it to do.
